Gum Disease and Cosmetic Dentistry

I am completely happy with the results…I love it…I could not be happier.

Dentist: I’m with Maria today. Maria, you came in about two to three months ago and you seemed to be a little bit frustrated with the way your teeth looked and really fearful to really get started with anything. Because you’ve been to several other dentists and had a hopeless prognosis by a lot of them.

Maria: By all of them. Yeah, absolutely.

Dentist: Well how have things changed here?

Maria: Well, when I came to see you I was pretty much at my wits end. After I gave birth to my son, my teeth changed dramatically. My teeth have always been a little bit crooked, but I don’t know exactly the right terminology, but I have a lot of bone loss.

And so not only did I have to get my gums healthy again, but my teeth also shifted even more in the process. So I was basically told that that was pretty much it. That that’s the way it was going to be. They were all going to fall out. At the time I think when I got this prognosis I was what, 30 years old? And then I was just faced with the fact that pretty soon… here I am in my early 30s and I might have to wear dentures.

And I chose to have my gums worked on and try to make them healthier, but it really didn’t change the appearance of my teeth. And as time grew it was getting more and more frustrating for me. I had started realizing, my family started realizing, that I wasn’t smiling anymore, I was embarrassed to have people really close to me. It started really effecting not only my confidence but it was effecting my relationships around me.

When I came to Dr. Bob’s office, I felt like it was just hopeless, but my husband, he’s a patient, and he really thought that Dr. Bob could help me. He made an appointment at my convenience, which was really nice because I was really nervous. He looked at my teeth and he gave me a bunch of different options. It wasn’t just the same thing that I heard over and over. That, “Oh your teeth are going to fall out. There’s nothing that you can do. You’re going to wear dentures.” He really addressed very specific issues with me.

He understood what the longer prognosis is going to be like. He told me this is what’s eventually going to happen, which I understood, but then he gave me short term options to make me feel better about smiling, and helped with the confidence that I already lost.

And he gave me a bunch of different options and allowed me the opportunity to choose which option is best for me. And he even brought in my husband and that way we could make a decision together, and I’m completely happy with the results. I understand that what I have done with my teeth might be a temporary fix for me, but I love it and I’m okay with that. That’s the choice that I wanted to make. He didn’t impose it on me. He told me the pros and cons of everything and I could not be happier.

Meet Dr. Matiasevich, DDS

As a second-generation dentist, Dr. Matiasevich was raised in Santa Cruz. Dr. Matiasevich completed his undergraduate work in economics at the University of California Irvine and then attended the University of Southern California for his dental degree.